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Ever since I met my husband, one of our favorite family
traditions has been performing in Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston’s annual
“ChristmasTime” production.
This year, for the first time, both our kids performed in
the show, as well. It’s a wonderful kick-off to the Christmas season, but it
takes an awful lot of time right before the holiday. In fact, in some ways, I
feel like the show IS the Christmas holiday, and there just happens to be a completely
separate second Christmas that comes afterward.
Rehearsals begin in early November, with a busy production
weekend including a dress rehearsal with all 200 performers (nearly 100 of them
under the age of 8 or so) falling just after Thanksgiving, with a full tech
week of long evening rehearsals the following week. Performances run the first
two weekends of December, with 5 performances (!!!!) each weekend. My husband
and I host a cast party for the adult cast members the first weekend, which
means that sometime before Thanksgiving we have to get the entire house and
yard decorated (and cleaned!), or else it won’t happen in time for the party. The
bottom line is that we spend all our time from 6 weeks before Christmas to less
than 2 weeks before Christmas completely wrapped up in this show. I don’t think
about shopping for Christmas presents, I don’t plan out my holiday menu, I don’t
schedule details of family gatherings, I only worry about costumes and lyrics
and backstage babysitters and how to stop my kids from picking their noses on
stage. (Note: costumes, lyrics, and babysitters were fine; the nose picking, well,
let’s just say that I’m still looking for a solution on that one.)
Yesterday was the final performance of the show, followed by
a quick packing up of boxes (and boxes…and BOXES…) of costumes, rushing back
home for a brief but wonderful visit with family who had come to see the show,
and falling into bed. The adrenaline was still coursing, the elation of hearing
the thunderous applause and the many grateful comments from audience members
was still fresh in our ears. But this morning…this morning, we’re all feeling
the crash of finishing one Christmas and barreling towards the next.
On the morning after the show every year, I look at the calendar
and feel a sudden rush of panic at how little time is left and how much I have
still to do before Christmas comes. Shopping, baking, scheduling, cleaning, wrapping. How will it ever get done?
And yet, somehow it always does get done. Maybe someone won’t get exactly the
present they had hoped for, but they’ll get something special. Maybe someone
will miss their favorite kind of Christmas cookie, but there will be Christmas
cookies. Maybe some family visit will be put off until January because we just
couldn’t figure out how to squeeze it in, but there will be a family visit
(eventually).
Why do I keep doing this, year after year, if it induces
such panic every time? Because that panic, that pre-Christmas post-Christmas
crash, lasts for only a moment relative to all the wonderful, joyous, peaceful
feelings that I get from doing the show. The hours of looking out over a rapt
audience, seeing the excited faces of children watching us perform, watching my
kids playing backstage with their new friends, relaxing with the other
performers who have become not only friends but extended family over the years,
the beauty of singing carols which have been sung by hundreds of other voices
over hundreds of years, the pride of watching my children entertain an audience
(and loving it) – all that washes away the momentary panic. All that, to me, is
the spirit of Christmas: sharing joy, peace, and the happiness of the season
with others.
Merry Christmas to all!
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